Convening for Action in British Columbia

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Kim Stephens

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: The Silent Death of Agriculture in Metro Vancouver – When Farmland Protection Isn’t Enough” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2025


    “The Agricultural Land Inventory for me was a chance to translate reality into data, to make a permanent record bearing witness to these changes and providing the facts for informed decision-making. I am so proud of Christina Gemino’s work in turning that data into a message and call for action,” stated Kevin Eastwood. What is neat about the story of Christina Gemino and her body of research is how she infuses her passion to paint a picture of land use within the Agricultural Land Reserve. Through her analysis, she shines a light on what is going on within the ALR that is not right.

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    WHEN FARMLAND PROTECTION IS NOT ENOUGH: “So here we are, losing farmland every year to industrial, non-farm use. Food security is at risk. How do we get the fruit of the Agricultural Land Reserve? That is what we have to protect,” stated Christina Gemino, graduate of the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University


    Christina Gemino titled her master’s thesis The Silent Death of Agriculture in Metro Vancouver. “The non-sanctioned expansion of industrial use on agricultural land was a factor that drove my research. It can forever change the agricultural land base. There was a 121% increase in ALR parcels with industrial use from 2016 through 2022. It should be ZERO percent. You can build warehouses and industrial stuff pretty well anywhere you have a piece of property. You cannot build a farm by bringing in soil. We have to find other places for this other stuff,” stated Christina Gemino.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: River Magic, tales from a life on 1000 rivers” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2025


    “I was inspired to write the book because a couple of years back I was looking at a lot of old photos. And I could not help but feel how fortunate I have been to have seen so much of the world through the lens of rivers. The book takes the reader on a multi-decade global adventure. And it chronicles a lot of the real-life encounters I have had on rivers around the world,” stated Mark Angelo. As an avid kayaker, canoeist and rafter, Mark Angelo has traveled on close to a thousand rivers spanning well over one-hundred countries; perhaps more than any other individual.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Context for Partnership’s Mid-Year Report for 2025” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2025


    In an article published in the NY Times, David Brooks reflected on new research findings. Reliance on artificial intelligence impacts the underlying cognitive architecture of human brains, he wrote. “But here’s where things get scary. The subjects who relied only on their own brains showed higher connectivity across a bunch of brain regions. Search engine users experienced less brain connectivity and A.I. users least of all. Are we really willing to become dumber? Essays written written by people relying on their brains created a wider variety of arguments and points.”

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    CONTEXT FOR GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LEGACY INITIATIVE: “The mid-year report provides an excellent understanding of our ‘philosophical’ rationale, how we function, and the collaborations and resources that make the Partnership for Water Sustainability effective,” stated Tim Pringle, founding director of the Partnership and adjunct professor at Vancouver Island University


    “The Partnership for Water Sustainability’s Mid-Year Report for 2025 is a baseline or landmark document. It is not a conventional annual report in the way people typically expect one to look like. The Partnership has adopted a storytelling approach to inform and engage readers about our mission,” stated Tim Pringle. Structured in three parts, the Mid-Year Report describes the Partnership’s operational framework followed by a section on the ambassadors’ program. Then it weaves quotable quotes into a narrative about the Partnership’s array of initiatives.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Coming this fall on Waterbucket eNews”– released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2025


    A request from Todd Pugh of CivicInfo BC was the inspiration for the Partnership for Water Sustainability featuring stories behind the stories of local government champions. “The idea is pretty simple. We run a lot of municipal press releases, but there are deeper stories to be told. We want thoughtful columns that highlight interesting ideas, concepts, or experiences. In short, we would love to hear about the journey – a behind-the-scenes story, from a first-person perspective,” stated Todd. He called his idea Civic Voices. The Partnership made it happen.

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    SNEAK PREVIEWS OF STORIES COMING THIS FALL ON WATERBUCKET eNEWS: “Years ago, a request from Todd Pugh of CivicInfo BC inspired our decision to provide a platform for unsung heroes and local government champions to share their stories behind the stories,” stated Kim Stephens of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia


    “We run a lot of municipal press releases, but there are deeper stories to be told,” stated Todd Pugh, Executive Director of CivicInfo, the data and information agency serving BC’s municipal sector. Waterbucket eNews has evolved to meet a growing need for a trusted source of information, one that provides context and perspective for a changing local government setting. Stories draw attention to the elephants in the room and that starts conversations. Headlines and supporting quotable quotes for 10 stories are sneak previews that foreshadow what is coming this fall.

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    KNOW YOUR HISTORY, LEARN FROM HISTORY: “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana (1863-1952), influential 20th century American thinker whose philosophy connected a rich diversity of historical perspectives


    One of the challenges of our time is that “loss of continuity” is happening just when continuity of understanding is needed most. Without an understanding of what went before, those who follow will not know what they do not know. This is why stories behind the stories are important. We share our world view through our stories and storytelling. It is not the technical stuff that carries the day. It is the stories about the technical stuff that carry the day. Stories unite us. We learn from stories. One must look back to see ahead. But it is more than that. It is also the ability to adapt.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF:  “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A watershed moment for reconciliation in Cowichan region” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2025


    “After the Climate Gathering, we had stacks of evaluation and I wrote a report. We really listened to participants and what they wanted to see moving forward, what the event meant to them. What we heard was that nobody wanted it to be a one and done. So, as a community and a nitty gritty planning team, literally that event was pulled together by the collaborative process of partnerships that got us the little bits to make one big bit. We are all coming from different places. To develop a terms of reference, we asked ourselves three questions,” stated Cindy Lise.

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    A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR RECONCILIATION IN THE COWICHAN: “The Cowichan Climate Gathering felt like reconciliation in action because First Nations had an equal voice at the table,” stated Michael Blackstock, independent indigenous scholar and creator of the Blue Ecology framework


    Grounded in the cultural ways of the Indigenous partners, the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering originated as an outreach initiative of the regional district’s watershed protection program. It morphed into something much, much bigger. “Hope lies within the spheres of influence for local governments — whether they are Indigenous OR non-Indigenous,” stated Michael Blackstock. The event brought together champions from three worlds…local government, First Nations communities, stewardship groups…to learn from each other, unite and build relationships through a network of networks.

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